


Double Trouble

by CruelisnotMason



Series: Happy & humorous sheith fics [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Matchmaking, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Galran Culture (Voltron), Gay, Gay & lesbian solidarity, Getting Together, Holding Hands, Humor, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Pining, Post-War, Useless Lesbians, minor curtis appearance, s7 compliant, wingman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2020-12-16 20:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21042044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CruelisnotMason/pseuds/CruelisnotMason
Summary: Life is hard, especially when you and your lesbian friend both pine for two certain Blade members ten light-years away.Thank God you both have the genius idea to play matchmaker for each other.





	1. Chapter 1

"Oh no." 

On entering the Atlas control room, Veronica doesn't make a secret out of her confusion about finding Shiro here. The corners of her mouth form a deep crease in a downwards curve, disdain written on her face like an open memo to everyone who'd witness this moment. 

"Veroni—" Shiro starts unsuccessfully. Veronica shakes her head, shushes him and places a finger against his lips. 

One might think, in such a strong hierarchical institution, that Veronica absolutely overstepped her line right there, still holding her fingers in place. But Shiro gives her a defeated look, turns his head and slaps his books closed. 

"You're right, I know," he tells her against the finger that is still hold in place against his lips, even though she hasn't even given him her usual lecture about Shiro slowly regressing into a hermit crab, with the Atlas control room acting as his shell. 

"I know," Veronica tells him and pulls a chair back so she can sit next to him, watching as Shiro neatly puts away his things. "I can sense Atlas' distress. Even she's annoyed that you're in here."

Shiro's lips curl into a small smile. "No, you don't," he says without looking as he closes his bag and pushes his chair back. "Atlas loves me," he grins, drawing a smile from Veronica, who, surprisingly, has recently become his closest contact. 

"Ah, there's the confident Admiral Shirogane again," she grins and stands, too. "Can't say I missed him but we need him here, after all." 

Shiro rolls his eyes and turns the controls off with a swift motion of his Altean arm. With a raise of his other arm, he gestures for Veronica to leave through the door first. 

"So," Veronica starts as they both stand outside and Shiro locks the doors, again with his Altean arm. He probably wouldn't need to with a sentiment ship that loves him that much.

"So," Shiro says, too, facing Veronica and raising an eyebrow. 

"Beer at the Old Yalmor's pub?" Veronica suggests. "On me," she adds, grinning. 

Shiro nods and smiles, hoists the bag higher up on his hip and waits for Veronica to lead the way. 

*

The Atlas' current base is a greyish planet with five days of sunlight a year in total. The inhabitants all wear a similar greyish color as skin and often sit outside their houses to get as much sun as possible.

The small bar that doesn't sit far from the Atlas' parking spot isn't well-visited, but it's a space that has booze, chairs, warmth, and light, so it's more than Shiro could have asked for. 

With a nod, they are greeted by the bartender, a female inhabitant with short black hair, tattoos, and scars decorating what is visible from her black, wide and saggy dress. She walks to get Shiro and Veronica the usual, after the third time of them coming here, acutely aware of how they won't touch the Nunvill the bar is offering. 

"Thanks for bringing me here," Shiro tells Veronica, and they clink their glasses. The Atlas mission has been on for a while now, but things are only slowly progressing. Still, Shiro somehow manages to drown in paperwork and plans even during after-work hours. 

"Somebody’s gotta stop you from overworking." Veronica takes a sip of the greenish yellow liquid the bartender placed in front of each of them and hums. "After all, your loyal black pomerian isn't here to keep an eye on you." 

Shiro rolls his eyes at her and takes a sip too. The brew doesn't look appetizing at all, but tastes better than what he’s had on every other planet. But honestly, Shiro would probably take anything over Nunvill. 

"Don't speak of him like that," Shiro says weakly. Veronica grins even more. 

"I really don't understand how Keith still doesn't know how in love you are with him.”

"Because I don't want him to know," Shiro says sharply. Veronica breaks into a low chuckle. 

"I worked for the Atlas crew one week and I knew. You're not as good at hiding it as you think you are, Shiro." 

Deep down, Shiro knows. He's tired. It's been weeks since they left Earth again to fly a dangerous mission to the asteroid belt near Olkarion to find missing refugees. They were nowhere to be found, which means Shiro has to try to figure out where they could be, and with no further trace, the Atlas is still stuck on planet Aurin.

Either way, Keith is not there, so it's not hard to pretend that there's nothing between Shiro and him. 

"It doesn't matter when he doesn't—" he clears his throat, "—think the same way about me that I... think about him." 

Veronica's eyes light up, despite Shiro's words. "I've seen him, Shiro. I think you're the only one he ever thinks of. Isn't that a good start?" 

Shiro nurses his beer. Even though he only speaks reluctantly about it, he has to admit that going out with Veronica makes his unease over talking about what happened or about what he feels about Keith a little easier. 

"I cut his cheek. I made him scream in despair, made him worry I would die. Twice." The witty tone of his voice turns all shades of bitter. "I'm pretty sure I'm all he thinks about. Dreams about." He turns to Veronica to look her in the eye. "He told me he has nightmares about it." 

It makes Veronica positively shut up. Shiro isn't sure how much the Paladins ever knew about Shiro's clone trying to horrendously murder Keith in the clone facility, but from his side he’s only ever told Veronica. For no real reason, really. 

They quietly nurse their beers, and with every passing second, Shiro nurses his own bad conscience. He could be more open, less cynical to Veronica. She's been nothing but supportive to him. 

"What about you?" he asks. 

Veronica raises an eyebrow. "What about me?" 

"Love." Shiro continues quickly as to not let the word leave a bitter taste on his tongue. "Anyone on the Atlas you like?" 

Veronica chokes on her next sip, coughs harshly with a hand covering her mouth. "Admiral," she winces. "Why—" 

"You've been talking to me about Keith for four weeks now," he explains casually, reaching into his pocket and taking out a tissue he gives to Veronica. She takes it gratefully to wipe her mouth. 

"I, uh." Veronica fixes her eyes on the table, rubbing the surface there. "There's no one." 

That makes Shiro perk up. In all those months, Veronica has never been shy to point out who's hot and who isn't, but her reaction now is an entirely unexpected one. 

"Yeah?" he asks, not hiding how unconvinced he is. A few seconds pass where Veronica annoyedly pats her nails on the table and looks anywhere but at Shiro's face. 

Shiro stares at her while mentally browsing through all the faces they both know. He stops at a certain Galra's face. 

"Ah," he mouths. A lazy grin appears on his face. He smiles to himself as he takes another sip of his bottle. 

Veronica observes him now, eyes wary of his shit-eating grin. 

"Anyways," she says before Shiro can start teasing her." You should give Keith a call." 

Shiro rolls his eyes again. "Why?" 

"Because you're doing a piss poor job of hiding how much you miss him." 

Shiro sighs and puts his empty bottle down. 

"Alright." He reaches for his wallet, but Veronica has bills in her hands to pay for them both faster than Shiro can reach it. "But only to have him say ‘hi’ to Acxa for you." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic brings me joy & I hope it brings you joy, too!
> 
> Thank so much @[benicemurph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benicemurphy/pseuds/benicemurphy) for beta-ing this fic💕

It takes more than two weeks and a daily elbow nudge from Veronica for Shiro to finally pull himself together and to just call Keith. 

He inwardly curses Veronica for being so vehement about something she shouldn't care so much about. It doesn't make it any better that she's a giant coward herself. Otherwise, she'd probably leave Shiro alone and try and contact Acxa all by herself. 

The call gets picked up after two seconds. When Keith's face appears on the screen of his dimly lit data pad, Shiro takes a sharp inhale. His hair is wet, his rosy skin flushed. He had just gotten out of the shower. 

"Should I call later?" Shiro croaks instantly, voice unusually high before Keith can even greet him. But Shiro's favorite Blade breaks into a smile and places his data pad on a desk, shakes his head then picks up his towel to dry his hair again. It has gotten so long. Shiro notices his palm getting sweaty. 

"No," Keith mouths, cheeks rosy and eyes shining. "Stay." 

Shiro swallows before he can ease into a comfortable smile, too. "How are you, Keith?" 

"Good," he instantly says, turns his back to the screen and hangs the towel up high. Shiro's eyes follow his movement and cast down the moment Keith turns. He comes closer, takes the data pad in his hand again and settles on his bed. "Haven't spoken to you in a while," he says as he makes himself comfortable and leans against the wall. He looks like he's thinking about what to say, then casts his eyes down, too. "How are you, Shiro?" 

"G-great," Shiro mutters. His eyes trace Keith's sharp features, linger for a moment on the prominent scar on his right cheek and zone in to Keith's curved lips. "It's been some time since we've spoken to each other." 

Keith doesn’t notice he’s holding his breath until it escapes with his laugh. "Yeah, Shiro. It's been some time." 

They smile at each other in comfortable silence. The blood rushes through Shiro's veins, rushing in his ears. He's getting dizzy only from hearing Keith's voice and seeing him after such a long time. Before he can say that he misses him, Shiro shakes his head. 

"Veronica says hi." 

Keith raises an eyebrow, then nods. "Uh. Well. Say hi back to her." 

Shiro nods, oblivious to the important part he's forgetting when the only helpful thought his brain conjures is Keith, Keith, Keith. Keith with wet hair and shiny eyes, with a slightly damp shirt that clings against his chest. Keith, who smiles at him and makes it all too hard for Shiro to handle. 

They talk about the Blades work and the failing mission on the Atlas. Keith offers his help instantly but Shiro politely declines. 

"Really, it's not a problem to send some people to the Atlas, Shiro," Keith tells him. 

"I'd only agree to that if you'd make sure to send yourself here, too," Shiro teases, eyes widening in interest at Keith's reaction. He gives him nothing, only a muttered curse. 

Shiro isn't dumb. There are unspoken things between them. He just isn't sure what they mean and if he interprets them correctly. 

They change the topic to their mutual friends, the Paladins. Shiro listens with interest and feels the familiar pull of Atlas in his head whenever the faces of his family appear in front of his eyes. It's Atlas gentle nudge, a quirky interest and yearning for the little humans that affect everyone's shared bond. It's over too soon when Keith looks at the time and realizes how late it is for Shiro. 

"You should be sleeping," Keith scolds and Shiro takes it to heart, a string of emotion playing the harp inside of him. 

"I'd much rather keep talking to you." It isn't the most mature reply but Shiro knows Keith is used to his silly side by now. 

With reddened cheeks and a show of his tongue Keith says his goodbyes and leaves Shiro to his hollow reflection on the black data pad screen. He neatly places it on the desk soon after and turns away. 

Shiro shouldn't be surprised that Keith turns up a week later. 

The Atlas warns Shiro of the security breach caused by a small Marmoran Cruiser as soon as the ship is within reach. Even though Shiro knows there is a limited choice of people who are sent from the Blades and feel compelled to visit the Atlas, he still interrogates the sentient ship about the smaller ship's owner. The Atlas, upon realizing that it's Keith's energy within reach, happily announces the visitor to Shiro. 

Only a few seconds later, Keith appears on screen. 

"Hey Admiral," he says in the rough voice, Shiro adores with his usually tousled hair neatly braided back. Shiro feels his face flush but keeps his strict demeanor. 

"Keith," he says breathless, not bothering with titles or the like. "You know where to land, right? I'll be there in a minute." 

Over the screen he can see Keith's handsome smile. It erupts the wish in Shiro to just go scream into his pillow over his embarrassing teenage crush. He reminds himself that he's a 26-year-old male adult, fully capable of handling himself and his emotions. 

Keith waves and the screen goes black. When he stares into the empty screen, he spots Veronica's dirty grin in her reflection. 

"Don't say a thing," Shiro warns, too knowing of Veronica's hobby that involves teasing him day in and day out. 

But she only looks happy for him. "Go get him, Tiger," she grins. Shiro is out the door, out of the control room. Atlas cheers in his mind as he walks — no, runs — down the corridors. 

When he arrives outside the platform, Keith has already opened the spaceship's hatch and stepped out. He calmly walks towards Shiro as Shiro himself jogs towards him. 

Suddenly unsure of what to do, Shiro halts in front of Keith. "Hi," he says shyly after taking a breath. 

Keith's mouth quirks up and he raises an eyebrow. "What is it?" he laughs and pulls Shiro into his arms. Keith initiates the hug, mirroring how Shiro did it all those times. Keith was never a hugger, but now… 

His grip got strong. 

While Shiro's mind echoes around that thought, he suddenly spots Acxa stepping out of the ship, too. 

Keith seems to follow the trail of his gaze and perks up. "I brought Acxa along with me. She has done so well with the Blades." Keith's face turns serious when he leans closer all of a sudden. "She also turned in a formal request to come with me. But don't ask me why." 

Shiro won't. He's blinded by Keith's smile and shivering still from the touch of his breath against his cheek. Fuck. 

"I'm just happy you're here," he says, way too unguarded, too true to his feelings. But he's happy to see that Keith keeps just smiling and hugs Shiro again. 

Shiro truly can't believe his luck. 

Neither of them pulls away first and they hold like that, lost in their own little world. But right next to where Keith stands, Acxa stops in her steps and waits. Shiro notices her presence and opens his eyes to find her hovering a few inches away, face bland, her unmoving eyes fixed on Shiro's. 

Shiro coughs and pulls away, looks right into Keith's surprised face. His hair is messed up and he looks endearing, but Shiro really needs to focus now. 

"Admiral," she greets him, her hand reaching from her shoulder down to her rip. Shiro nods at her, mirrors the gesture that's typical for the Blades and smiles a little. Acxa doesn't mirror it. 

"Glad to have you, too." Shiro smiles a little wider. 

Acxa doesn't bother with formalities. "Where's Veronica?" she asks. 

"Atlas control room," Shiro answers perplexed. "Should I guide you the—" 

But Acxa walks off without a word, gaze not looking left or right while she heads towards the Atlas' elevators. Shiro looks after her.

When Keith starts laughing, Shiro turns back towards him. 

"I need to tell you something," Keith says, smile secretive but eyes bright. "But it can wait until after we’ve found your lost refugees, hm?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on this story & if there's anything you wanna read in the later chapters💕


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no update! There are several projects I'm working on at the same time and I'm a little sad that this one didn't get as much attention as it deserves. But it's still a lot of fun. <3 
> 
> Just a short disclaimer: This fic is basically somewhat s7 compliant and s8 divergent, cutting all the things out that were bad storywise or that i dont care about in this story. But that also means that certain crew members [yes, the man, too] but won't have any bigger role in the story [and no serious connection to Veronica OR Shiro]. Thanks for reading so far, without further ado---
> 
> Edit: upped the chapter count

Veronica watches the stars through the front glass of the Atlas control room. She only partly listens to the never-ending gossiping of her co-workers even though participating in it is a part of what makes the job fun. They currently talk about Shiro who is, weirdly enough, a beloved topic. Not because he's doing things wrong but because everyone on the crew admits that sometimes, the Admiral of the Atlas is just a very mysterious man who is worthy to be talked about. 

For Veronica, Shiro became a lot less mysterious since the day they went for a drink together, when she realized that Shiro might be an impressive genius pilot but he also can be a total dork. From their first night at the bar on, he became a wonderful friend to her who shares a similar romantic interest in certain Blade members. 

Shiro's not present. He's probably greeting Keith on the platform and stumbles over his own words while talking to him. Veronica bets that he's going beet red in the presence of the shortest Blade member even though he can be so confident any other time. It's up to Veronica's imagination for what happens between them since she's in the control room while they are down on the platform. 

It's better that way. Veronica doesn't have to witness them another time to know how they are around each other. Truth to be told, she's decided to not come down to the platform to greet Keith since there's nothing worse than the second hand embarrassment she will get from watching him talk with Shiro. 

There's one thing she wants to talk to him about later. Veronica doesn't know how long Keith will stay. She's not as interested in him personally as in asking him how Acxa is doing. She's sure she will embarrass herself when asking, although Keith doesn't cross her as the noisy type and not as someone who would ask her questions. 

The warning beep of one of the hangars stops Veronica in her thoughts. She looks up and types the preferred multitude into the ship's stats for an incoming deeper space breeze, then reaches for the communicator to call someone to check the hangars. 

It's not a lot she has to do today but she needs to pay attention to their surroundings as long as Shiro is gone. 

As soon as the warning signal and symbol turns off, Veronica's thoughts trail back to Acxa. Veronica could have asked Keith if Acxa would want to tag along. She'd probably do it, Veronica thinks. Because Acxa is responsible like that. If someone asks for her, she will come. No matter to whom. 

"Do you think he's able to let his Altean arm vibrate?" Querlax, the unilu on the team asks no specific co-worker with putting the question into room. Veronica stops herself from snorting and instead acts oblivious to another round of gossip over Shiro. 

Curtis on the other side of the room groans lowly, rubbing his eyes. He has been looking a little tired for the last few weeks and Veronica makes a mental note to ask if Querlax knows anything about it later. 

"Why would you even want to know that?" Curtis asks. He's not hiding his disdain about the question that Querlax asked rather innocently. Veronica tries not too hard to think about the association Curtis seemed to have. 

Querlax takes a deep breath, willing to explain whatever wild theory they came up with about Shiro, but shuts their mouth at the familiar creak of the floor in front of the control room. The whole crew twitches the moment the only door - in or out - of the control room slides open, a quiet hiss announcing someone's presence.

As per usual, the whole crew assumes that Shiro had come back and falls silent, dropping the gossip about him as quickly as possible. Veronica, too, assumes, while turning around, that she will see Shiro and Keith standing in the door. She's ready to call Shiro out for coming back to work instead of getting lunch with Keith, but the words stop in her throat. 

Dark blue hair against a lighter blue skin, a slim neck and a trained figure are the first things she notices. When Veronica looks up, two dark orbs as eyes look at her expectantly. The uniform that person wears is one of many but Veronica has watched the body that wears it multiple times during missions or when they trained back then together. 

"Acxa!" Veronica can't stop herself from smiling as she walks the two steps to bridge their distance. She notices Acxa's uneven breathing when Veronica halts in front of her. "Did you run?" she asks, surprised. 

"No," Acxa deadpans. Veronica stares at her unbelieving in the face of an obvious lie.  "No," Acxa repeats, hair falling into her beautiful, beautiful face. "I walked," she insists. 

Veronica's smile drops open for multiple reasons. In the few months she and Acxa spent together on the Atlas, Veronica quickly learned that Acxa is the most terrible liar she'd ever met. Now, Veronica stands in front of her, puzzled about why she would lie but coming up empty.

"Either way," she says. "I'm happy you came here, Acxa!" 

Acxa nods, eyes big and sparkling when she looks at Veronica. But her face is still unreadable. Goddammit, Veronica is sure Acxa was once easier to read, back when they both worked on board of the Atlas. Or maybe, Veronica just got bad at guessing. 

"It was a good decision," Acxa says. 

Veronica and Acxa still stand there, looking at each other while all the crew members are turned to their screens, hardly hiding how they listen in on their conversation. Veronica feels mildly embarrassed since past experiences have shown her how she's not as smooth as she usually thinks she is. Also, the whole crew is a horrible group of well-meaning gossips. 

"Yeah." Veronica nods, already forgetting what she just said. Then something unexpected happens: Acxa opens her arms, lips in a thin line, and pulls Veronica closer. Veronica doesn't realize it's happening until Acxa nuzzled her head into her chest. She feels her heart beating quickly, listens in on her rapid breathing and ignores the squeaks of everyone's chairs turning. 

"Uh." Veronica doesn't hug back, arms loosely hanging to her side. It's possibly the first hug that Acxa ever initiated. 

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Acxa says suddenly and pulls back. Veronica misses the hug before she has time to progress it.. 

"Huh?" Veronica's eyebrows are raised high above her eyes and her mouth slightly opens. 

Acxa furrows her brows. "The Blades send me to help," she clarifies. 

Ah. That puts things into perspective. Acxa didn’t come over to meet Veronica, specifically but to support the Atlas with its missions. Veronica could have known since both the Atlas and the Blades send representatives once in a while.

Veronica stares into the air as she thinks about something that Acxa could help her with but then nods quickly. “I have something which you are oddly perfect for,” she says and takes Acxa’s hand to press it softly. “I’m bringing you to our research center.”

A little late Veronica notices how they are still holding hands while walking down the corridors together. She notices how her palm begins to sweat all over Acxa’s hand but it feels like pulling away now would be a little awkward.

“Holding hands,” Acxa says suddenly and turns a little to Veronica, “it’s a terrarian gesture for a close bond between former co-workers.” 

Veronica’s mouth drops open. It’s an oddly specific interpretation of what Acxa must have seen before. “What makes you think that?” Veronica asks her. Before, she’d ask Acxa a lot of times about some Galran gestures that she interpreted terribly, terribly wrong; so she’s no stranger to cultural misunderstandings.

“The Admiral,” Acxa starts and if Veronica didn’t know any better she’d assume her tone was getting shy, “he does it to Keith, too. And they are former teammates.”

Two thoughts cross Veronica’s mind: 1) Shiro, you sly bastard. 2) How can she correct Acxa without making the situation weird for all four of them?

“Ah.” Veronica uses her right hand to brush a strand of her brown hair behind her ears. “You don’t hold hands with Keith because he’s your co-worker now.” She mumbles to herself. Acxa looks at her questioningly.

“I mean, it’s not wrong,” Veronica says and looks down at their joined hands. Then she takes a steadying breath. It’s not like her to lie to a friend. “It’s more a gesture when people like each other.” Her eyes pointedly keep staring at Acxa’s hand. “Platonically. Romantically. Not co-workers, especially.”

When Veronica raises her head to look at Acxa, the Blade looks back, gaze intense. “Is that so,” she says after a while. Out of things to say, Veronica pulls her along towards the research lab on the Atlas, cheeks hot and heart beating.

Colleen greets them at the entrance, eyes flickering over Acxa. “Oh,” she says and the wrinkles at her eyes are getting wrinklier when she smiles. “You brought someone who speaks Galran.”

Veronica sees Acxa’s gaze flick to her, looking unsure. Veronica presses her hand one last time before she lets go and nods. “The refugees we’re trying to find were under Galran occupation for the last 300 years and adapted a dialect influenced by Galran standard language that no one here really speaks,” Veronica explains to Acxa and nods to a room of four people who’s bend over their datapads, scribbling away. “We’re trying to figure out if they left any written traces and also want to prepare for when they show up. If we can’t communicate with them, they won’t feel safe.”

By the way Acxa’s mouth drops open, Veronica almost fears she insulted her. Acxa is a warrior after all, not a language expert or a researcher. Maybe she doesn’t like the task. But then again, Acxa is a dutiful person and Veronica would undermine her for not taking this seriously either.

A person from the research team comes over, a strong but petite woman who eyes up Acxa. “Not to assume,” she says, throwing her hair back and motions her hand in a common Galran greeting, “but are you the Galran speaker we requested from the research department? You wouldn’t believe how long we waited for someone who could fill in on that job,” the blonde says.

“Acxa, that’s Norle,” Veronica introduces, suddenly feeling a small unease despite knowing that Norle is a wonderful and probably the nicest person she ever met in her life. “Acxa is a friend of mine.” Veronica is unable to meet Acxa’s gaze and just keeps looking at Norle. “But she’s able to assist you for the time she’s staying.”

“Ah,” Norle’s eyes light up and she clasps her hands together. “Wonderful! You can come with us.” Then she says something in Galran that Veronica doesn’t understand but Acxa laughs.Veronica turns to her, surprised but Acxa simply shrugs. “Your co-workers have a sense of humor.”

Veronica nods numbly and sees Acxa following Norle back to the table with the language researchers, introducing her to everyone. Unlike the other times that Acxa meets new people, she actually looks at ease.

Veronica wouldn’t love to admit it but she feels her guts drop. Acxa rarely feels so accepted, she knows that much. It wouldn’t be nice to feel jealousy when Acxa feels alright around others. She isn’t that shallow, Veronica tells herself.

And yet, when she waves Acxa goodbye, telling Colleen to let Acxa know she will pick her up for lunch later, she has a bad feeling about this.

She just hopes, Shiro is doing better.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time back to sheith pov ;D


	4. Two can play this game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with a new chapter! This is still my feel good fic :>

"You sent me some documents," Keith says the moment they enter a room that gives them a little more privacy. 

"What about them?" Shiro folds his arms in front of him and leans against the door. The room feels smaller now that Keith is here with him. He watches Keith curiously, after all he had looked through the documents multiple times and found no answer on his own. 

"I looked through them and realized that the Atlas had passed the red moon next to Qolonx, right? But in the documents it says that the airship was seen crossing the passage on the opposite side." 

Shiro perks up, unfolds his arms and takes a step closer. "What?" 

"I only realized today that the old wreckage of a Galra cruiser that once collided with the yellow moon is still visible from there. There's only one thing: The cruiser doesn’t look damaged from that side." 

Shiro's breath hitches. 

“In fact, it looks faultless. Some lights are on. They use long-distance-solar-energy and have not ever gone out since the wreck got abandoned.”

Shiro can’t help the way his mouth falls open. Keith is brilliant, he thinks. "They are waiting there," he draws the conclusion before Keith can enlighten him. "They must have cut their communications and used cloaking as soon as they saw the Galra ship."

Keith nods and purses his lips. Shiro gives him a proud look, ready to stump out of the room and into the next cruiser. For a moment, Keith keeps smiling at him and brushes a strand of hair back. Then his expression becomes focused again. "They must have landed on Qolonx. We only have to find them without scaring them first." 

Shiro looks at him in awe. It took Keith three seconds to find out since he came here, and Shiro can barely contain how amazed he is. "You're brilliant,” he breathes. “The life of many people will be saved, Keith." 

Shiro’s smile is so wide it hurts. He’s confident when he breaks his gaze off Keith, and walks towards the door. When he opens it, the light of the corridor falls in. 

"Not without you and the Atlas crew." Keith followed after him and now stands right behind Shiro, close to bumping into him when Shiro turns back. “Your crew found the documents in the first place and started your rescue mission’” Keith adds.

Shiro takes the first step outside, since the space in the room is limited so much that he can’t fully turn in the door frame without knocking Keith over. Now he looks back at Keith and shrugs. 

Then, "I'm gonna mock Slav forever for not figuring that one out." 

The smile he gives Keith is neither revoking or emphasizing his words. Shiro knows Keith knows that much because right now, he’s laughing a brilliant laugh, smiling so wide it makes Shiro’s chest tighten.

Keith eyes shine open and vibrant, and unexpectedly, he reaches out for Shiro’s hand. Shiro’s gaze drops down to where their hands are joined, then looks up again, feeling a little uncertain. Keith still hasn’t fully stepped out of the room yet. But it’s better that way; every small movement, no matter how small would be too much for Shiro’s wobbly legs and send him flying. He sends a little helpless smile Keith’s way and takes a deep breath. 

“I missed this,” Keith says before Shiro can. He brushes his long black hair back, a soft dark waterfall over his shoulder. Shiro’s brain simply stops processing and his mouth is open again, while the last working brain cell struggles to come up with something witty and quick or snark or sarcastic or anything, but fails. 

Keith doesn’t seem to notice or mind. "Let's take the Black Lion," he suggests, his voice a little rough at the edges. He did grow into the leader role a little, after all. Realizing that much brings Shiro’s brain back online and something warm fills his chest, a sense of pride. His eyebrows rise high above his eyes. “Really,” he says, breathless for Keith’s beautiful smile. 

“Sure,” Keith says with trained nonchalance, as he pushes past Shiro, out of the doorframe and into the corridor. He pulls Shiro by his hand, grip tight and a little sweaty. "She's always happy to see you.”

*

Shiro follows him down the corridor and multiple stairs until they arrive at the platform and spot the Black Lion, ready in his dutiful posture as he sits crouched with his mouth wide open. Another wave of pride floods Shiro’s chest when he realizes that Keith must have called him from across several galaxies. It must have taken a lot of training to get there, and Keith must have put in the extra effort all on his own. He tells Keith, who only shrugs and shakes his head, cheeks slightly red. He crawls into the beast’s mouth first and reaches back to help Shiro get in, too. 

In the cockpit Keith marches to the pilot’s seat without much thinking, drops in and grabs the controls. He doesn’t look back to Shiro when he turns on the system, making the lights on the control panel light up in a faint blue tone.

Shiro settles behind Keith’s seat as the Lion slowly takes off the platform. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable to be in the Black Lion again after so long, on the opposite, Shiro feels relief. It’s been not nearly enough time to process everything he felt when his mere essence was trapped in the Black Lion, but it was enough time to know that the dreading feeling the void of the astral plane realm that he felt won’t be something he’ll experience anytime soon. Not even when he’d enter the Black Lion again.

It does feel weird in some ways. The Black Lion hasn’t been his for a long time and he feels none short of being an intruder. But then again, there’s something nudging at the edges of Shiro’s mind, like a low growl he could only hear if he’d really, really concentrated. It’s the familiar growl of Black that, back in the days, always felt like a friendly nod into his direction.

“She’s glad,” Keith says and confirms Shiro’s assumptions. It makes his heart flutter. At least that much, he tells himself. At least she’s happy to have him, even if he’s not her pilot. 

Confidently, Keith pilots them around the red and then the yellow moon down to a rather greyish planet. "It can only take so long until we find them," Keith mutters and pushes a few buttons. "Black will scan the atmosphere and ground. We can lean back." 

Shiro simply nods, but still looks through the front down at the planet and scans the area. He's glad they will finally be able to help after weeks of not getting ahold of the refugees. 

It’s quiet in the cockpit, neither Shiro nor Keith seem to fill the comfortable silence around them. Shiro leans back again and watches mindlessly how landscapes pass by. There is nothing interesting on the planet to see, so he starts looking to Keith more often than not, finds himself watching him closely, and soon forgets that he’s watching him at all. 

It’s a little stupid, this crush. Shiro knows as much. He’s not a teen anymore - and god is he thankful for that - but harboring a crush for a friend he had that long seems… unnecessary.

Nonetheless, there’s a spark of hope that maybe Keith feels the same. Shiro never asked him if he’s interested in dating before. The time with Voltron didn’t give them options to discuss anything beyond the feelings and situations that happened on the surface. Their friendship still worked, even though Shiro sometimes doesn’t know if it’s considered one anymore.

“You wanted to tell me something,” Shiro says slowly.

“Ah.” Keith makes a sound, then clears his throat. “It’s not important right now.“

Shiro isn’t happy with that answer. It seems like it’s something uncomfortable, something that Keith might want to talk about but hides instead. If it’s that delicate,it can’t be good news, then.

“I see,” Shiro says, noncommittal.

Before he decides if he should press on, the screen starts blinking. 

“Bio organism detected,” Keith states and pushes a few buttons. “I’m preparing the landing now.”

“Send a signal, first. We can’t risk scaring them.”

“Aye, Sir,” Keith smiles and looks over his shoulder in time to see Shiro’s face reddening. Before Shiro can respond, Keith pushes the controls forward. Shiro has to hold onto something so he won’t stumble or fall during the landing.

  
  
  


The Atlas only follows them when they successfully made contact and defused the situation. As soon as the people recognized the Black Lion and Keith, they seemed to calm down, even though they still took precautions. By the end of the day everyone was relocated on the Atlas, and Shiro had informed his crew about the next steps through the communicators. Soon they realized that there were more people than anticipated.

“They can have my room,” Keith tells Shiro on the way back to the Atlas control room. Shiro’s steps are quick and Keith, being a bit shorter, has to quicken his own pace to keep up. “I can sleep in the Black Lion.”

Shiro doesn’t stop walking, knowing that they shouldn’t let them all wait. “I’m afraid one room won’t help much. I think it’s best to not separate anyone, but we have to find more space to make it reasonable for them to live here for the next few weeks until we can relocate them. I’ll have to make a public announcement.”

The door of the Atlas control room swishes open the moment Shiro appears in front of it. When he steps through, Keith follows him quickly.

“Welcome back,” Veronica greets Shiro and salutes. She looks from him to Keith before adding a cheery “Well done, both of you!"

Shiro stops short to look at Veronica, eyebrow slightly furrowed. “I thought Acxa was…” he starts but stops himself, shakes his head and takes one of the communicator’s microphones instead. 

He clears his throat before activating the communicator. “Good evening, Atlas. As you all have heard by now, this mission took the next step to being a successful one. It turns out that we have a shortage of available rooms, so it’s best if we’re all moving together for the next few weeks. Please report any free rooms immediately as soon as you find a new place to stay.” 

Shiro puts the microphone back in its place and turns back. Both Keith and Veronica are looking at him, anticipating. “Veronica?”

“Yes, sir?” Veronica perks up.

“I recall you have an unused extra bed in your room, right? Acxa will stay with you then.”

Shiro watches Veronica’s face taking the color of a tomato. She looks a little angry, too. Shiro doesn’t care. It’s time for some action, and they really need the additional space. 

He then notices Keith raising an eyebrow at him and shrugs as if to say that it’ll be fine. He doesn’t expect a sudden grin on Keith’s face to appear.

“I’m going to, uh, see how I can rearrange other rooms then.” Luckily, Veronica’s face doesn’t take on the sour expression that Shiro’s already too familiar with.

She’s looking thoughtful when she turns away and opens a layout of the Atlas on the screen, then takes paper and pencil out of a drawer to make notes. 

Shiro takes a few steps to his place and puts his hands on the controls. “Atlas, enable autopilot,” he says, waits for the familiar blue light to light up the control room. As soon as the location is locked, Shiro takes a few steps back and signs Keith to follow him. 

“More work to do,” Shiro explains briefly. Keith’s eyes light up and he nods, before he falls into step next to him again.

  
  


They don’t rest until the late evening; Shiro gives orders, talks to people, asks what they need. For half an hour during dinner he lets Atlas rearrange rooms, make them smaller and create new rooms through the additional space so they can get everyone a place to stay. 

Keith waits next to him with his food until it’s cold, not wanting to start eating without Shiro, no matter what Shiro tells him. When Shiro opens his eyes and turns back to him and his plate, Keith reaches for his fork and smiles. 

“I think it should be okay now,” Shiro tells and stabs a piece of broccoli before stuffing it into his mouth. His stomach has been growling for half an hour now. “But I’ll still have to wait for a report from Querlax until I know everything’s fine.”

The soft look Keith gives him makes Shiro’s neck feel hot. He stuffs another piece of vegetable into his mouth and evades his gaze. “It will be. Eat,” Keith says in a tone that doesn’t allow any objections, so Shiro grimaces and continues eating. He’s agitated, but not in a bad way. Finding a place for so many people feels good, although he would have hoped they could have done so earlier. 

A ping of his datapad a couple minutes later and Shiro knows that so far they are fine with redistributing everyone’s living space. There’s a small complaint from Sam about sharing a living space with Slav for one night until everything’s settled and Shiro types back immediately that he’ll tell someone that he already stays with his wife. When Shiro puts the pad away, he does so with a deep sigh. 

“Busy day,” Keith comments. It’s not a question. Everyone’s bustling around, making arrangements. The ship has to start its course towards the planet where the refugees will hopefully find a permanent stay, and it’s Shiro’s job to set the Atlas on its way this evening.

“It is.” Shiro says. Keith’s plate is empty but he’s still sitting there with his third refill of tea, furrowing his brow. “But it’s good,” Shiro hurries to say. “It’s good work. I’m happy to be of help to others.”

Keith’s lips quirk up in an adorable smile. Shiro wishes he could kiss it off his mouth.

“That’s good,” he says. Then he steals some food off Shiro’s table. Shiro lets him.

Out of the corner of his eyes Shiro sees Acxa and Veronica enter the dining room. Shiro turns his head to them, curious to see how it’s working out between them. Acxa looks a little exhausted and eagerly puts food on her tray. Veronica barely takes any while she stares at her.

Eyes fixed on the interactions between the two of them for no particular reason, Shiro remembers: "You wanted to tell me something." 

“Oh, yeah.” A faint red blush crawls up Keith’s cheeks, and he actually looks embarrassed. Shiro’s heart beat picks up as a result and everything around them seems to stop. Keith looks away and glances at Veronica and Acxa too, mindlessly. Shiro can’t help to get a glimmer of hope.

“It’s about Acxa,” Keith says and Shiro’s hope flies out the window. He nods, and stabs another vegetable with his fork. He can’t help the disappointment rushing over him and fights down the ugly feeling tightening his chest. He has no reason to feel that way, Shiro thinks. Keith never gave him a reason to get his hopes up.

“Uh. Okay.” Shiro doesn’t know what to say. Acxa is a nice person albeit sometimes not easy to understand. The instant worry that Keith could be interested in her crosses his mind, and with that that he might have to tell Veronica that she’s got herself a rival. Veronica is an ambitious person, so she won’t back down from that.

A person from the language and research social department joins Veronica and Acxa at the buffet table, putting one hand on Acxa’s shoulder. Shiro’s not sure since he can’t see Veronica’s face but he assumes she must be glaring daggers at her.

“I think it’s great,” Shiro says and congratulates himself for sounding so composed. “You deserve to experience those feelings.” He can’t exactly say that Veronica called dibs on Acxa some time ago, Keith has to figure that out by himself.

“What are you talking about?” 

Shiro looks at him surprised. Keith sounds so confused and if he reads it right, a little offended.

“You just meant… about Acxa,” Shiro says a little dumbfounded and then stops himself. 

“Shiro, I-“ Keith bends forward, eyes bore into his, his lips press tightly into a fine line. Then realization dawns in his face. He swallows. “You know that I’m, uh.”

“What?” He stares at him and suddenly his mouth runs dry. Were Keith’s eyes always so intense?

“I’m not… I’d never be interested in her like that,” Keith says flatly.

“Oh.” Shiro tries hard to not sound happy and in turn sounds weirdly disappointed. 

They hold each other’s gaze. Shiro sees Keith’s nostrils widen a little. “You know that, right?” Keith asks. 

Shiro doesn’t know anything anymore. He opens his mouth a little but no words come out. He feels like he’s missing something that Keith feels he told him already. But he just can’t figure it out.

Keith leans back then, seemingly content with what he said, cheeks reddened again. “Anyways,” he says. “About Acxa, I think she really likes Veronica.”

The words barely arrive in Shiro’s brain. A small, “is that so?”escapes him with no real meaning behind the words. Keith nods.

And then, before they can continue, Veronica arrives at their table. “Hey boss,” she says to Shiro with a hint of tease in her voice. “There’s an issue with the rooms.”

Shiro sighs and rubs a hand over his tired face. “What is it?” he asks. They’ve been on the task for several hours now and if anyone made a mistake-

“Yeah, sorry. I’m an idiot,” Veronica explains and then sends a brief smile Keith’s way. “It’s all my fault.”

Veronica doesn’t really look bothered, more giddy about it. She shoves her ass onto the bench and bumps Shiro away to give her some space, puts up her chin on her hand. “I’ve accidentally assigned Sam to Slav’s room.”

“That was taken care of,” Shiro replies instantly. Keith throws him a nervous look.

“Yeah, yeah. Sam’s with his wife now. But we forgot to give Slav any room on the Atlas and had to give him a single room now… since there aren’t many people who can be more than a few hours with him.”

Shiro’s close to suggesting to give Slav part of the storeroom or an extra bed for his work space. Sam Holt told him once that he assumes Slav never sleeps. But it wouldn’t be fair—

“I did find a solution and I know it’s not a big thing, since you’re both paladins and everything,” Veronica says and starts picking on the food on her own plate. “So I assigned Keith to your room, sir.”

“What?” Shiro’s voice is loud, so loud that even Acxa a few meters away turns around. Keith looks startled too.

“I mean. I—” Shiro looks to Keith who doesn’t seem as opposed as he acted right away. Shiro looks at him for a few more seconds, feeling Veronica’s gaze on him.

“I, uh. I guess.” 

“Wonderful, sir.” Veronica smiles a catty smile that makes Shiro think that she planned it. Forget ‘think’. He’s certain she did.

“I’m gonna take my food to my room now,” Veronica explains and gets up, plate in one hand and fork in her other. “See you tomorrow. Sleep well.” Then, with a wink at Shiro, “don’t stay up too long tonight.”

It’s Shiro’s turn to flush red and he stares after Veronica as she walks away, just as smug as he was when he suggested the same thing for her and Acxa. Shiro lets out a small sigh and looks up to Keith with an apologizing smile. 

He seriously underestimated Veronica. Apparently, _two_ can play this game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohohohohohohoh will this mean a shared bed scene next chapter???? >:D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been sitting in my docs for a while but I didn't know how to continue tbh! But I want to get this fic finished at some point so I sat my ass down today lol. I have the slight feeling that it might take two chapters to finish, but I hope getting there in one >:D If you have any wishes for what could happen in the next chapter, feel free to comment! I'd love to hear some ideas.

Shiro  silently  curses Veronica.

Two meters away from him, Keith stands in his room as if he’s always belonged there. He's busy taking several pieces of clothing out of his bag and putting them on an extra shelf Shiro cleared for him. With him here, Shiro thinks it’s all too idyllic to be true.

Truth to  be told, today put a straing on him. For once, Shiro wanted to finish early to have some time left with Keith. But then the several things happened  simultaneously . The mechanics encountered issues recolcating the refugee ships on the Atlas. And the cafeteria personal realized a miscalculation with the current supply level.

In the end, Shiro had to arrange paperwork for a pit stop in a nearby solar system in two days, and before he realized it, it was already past midnight when he left the Atlas control room.

He went back finding Keith still up and making himself comfortable in his room.  Shiro entered, talking a few words to him and ended up standing in the middle of the room, forgetting everything he wanted to say or do.

Luckily Keith is too caught up in rearranging his belongings to notice that Shiro stopped talking a while ago.  Thankfully, he only frowns at one of his shirts—a wide green one with an indecipherable print on it —and not at Shiro who stands forlorn in the middle of the room.

Shiro's hands vegetate on his side, no to little life in them left as his brain tries to process another thought besides ‘Keith’s here ! In my room!’ which runs in endless circles in his mind.

The only thing strong enough to finally shake Shiro out of the hypnotism that is Keith’s very being, and in particular that long dark braid swaying with every of his movement, is the sound of a zipper whirring.

It’s been a long day, Shiro thinks with glassy eyes, and he blames his overworked brain for his sluggishness. His mind and body feel heavy as he can't help but stare at the curve of Keith’s slim back. Only when he realizes he's looking at Keith's naked back peeking out from the dark purple Blade suit with clarity, realization dawns upon him.

“Oh, you’re—“

His pathetic croak is inaudible to anything but his own ears. Unable to continue, Shiro continues to stand on his spot like a tree rooted to the ground.

Keith still hasn’t noticed—or hasn’t cared—that Shiro has gone quiet a few feet behind him, and starts peeling off his suit with a pointed carelessness  . He’s quick at getting undressed, but not quick enough for Shiro to lose his dignity. His last working braincell urges him to get a grip on himself, and it actually works.  With three quick steps Shiro walks to his kitchenette and far away from Keith, who  apparently  doesn’t check twice before getting naked.

When Shiro’s hidden away in his kitchenette, he scolds himself. It’s natural to not mind, he thinks, while going through his cupboards and shelves.  He looks at the detailed descriptions that Hunk wrote on most of the  neatly  packaged spices from outer space he once gifted Shiro, but without  really  reading a word. He’s nervous. So nervous.

A true wrack.

Since when has it been like that?

Shiro finds no answer, especially through a hollow stare at the different labels.

He still proceeds reading them until Keith calls him from the other room.

“Shiro?”  Keith sounds surprised and doesn’t appear in the kitchenette,  probably  wondering where Shiro fled to. Had he thought Shiro would stay somewhere close, lurking?

Shiro hesitates, and doesn’t dare look around the corner, in case the Blade was still not dressed. After a moment he hesitates with a soft “yes?” from the kitchenette.

There’s no answer but a few seconds later Keith pops his head around the corner. “What are you doing?” he asks, brows furrowed in adorable confusion. His braid is undone and the dark silky curls run like a waterfall over his shoulders. Shiro wants to fling himself into him, and out of the Atlas at the same time.

Instead of complying with any of those two impulses, Shiro fumbles with the blue peppers from the planet Kalkari in his hands, remembering their sweet taste from the first time he tried them and the bitter aftertaste he wasn’t warned about.

“I don’t know,” he admits.

It earns a snicker from Keith, and he comes closer, with fluid steps. His dark sweats and shirt hang loose around his body. Shiro feels a little weak as he  audibly  swallows.

“You look lost,” Keith says, voice tinged in amusement more than concern.  The rustle of the package material between Shiro's nervous fingers reminds him that he's still holding the peppercorns.

“ Maybe  I am.” He cracks a nervous grin and watches, completely smitten, Keith’s smile forming into a full blown grin.

Keith stops a step away from Shiro. “So,” he starts and leans lax against the door frame, “good thing I found you.”

Shiro hopes his breath doesn’t sound too punched out when he replies, “Good thing indeed.”

There’s a brief moment where they look at each other, trace each other's face in the comfort of a silent night.  The darkness outside the Atlas and partly inside Shiro’s room engulfs them as the silence of the whole ship falling into slumber does. It’s where Shiro decides that he could look and stare at and breath in Keith… forever.

Shiro traces ever loose hair, every crease in Keith’s face—there are few, it’s so smooth—and lets his mind and eyes wander down to where Keith’s hands hide in the pocket of his sweats. Then he becomes  increasingly  self-aware about how yet again he’s checking Keith out.

As if he's got caught, his eyes shift up to where Keith is still watching him.

Keith’s eyes shine a deep purple as he examines Shiro in the same way then, grazing down to Shiro’s hips and arm, back to his shoulder and at his face again. Keith too, seems at a loss of words. Shiro clears his throat.

“It’s late,” he remarks, like the brightest bulb in the house.

Keith nods  slowly  , and as if he only realized the truth to Shiro’s words, he hides his yawn behind his hand. “Yeah,” he says and lowers his hand to scratch his belly. Shiro’s eyes  decidedly  stay where they are.

“Come on,” Keith says then and takes his hand. “I’ll bring you to bed.” He throws a cocky grin that Shiro was not prepared for. “You lost boy.”

It makes Shiro laugh, low and rough and he follows Keith back to the other room.  When Shiro changes into his sleepwear, he feels too aware of Keith’s presence behind him, lingering, waiting .  Shiro steadies his breath and turns, then joins Keith in bed, where he already lay down and dragged the blanket up to his chest.

Shiro lies next to him on his back, the nervous drum of fingers against his stomach creating a rhythm in his head. The only other sound aside from his own breath is Keith’s, a few inches away. If the drum of Shiro’s fingers annoys him, he doesn’t say it.

Shiro listens to his own heartbeat, louder by the minute, closes his eyes, reopens them to stare at the ceiling. If he was alone he'd sit up against the wall and look at his datapad, but he doesn’t want to disturb Keith's sleep. Instead he stays put and closes his eyes.

Like a bottomless pit, his mind swallows all the thoughts that drip in. After a while, the thoughts pile up, all calling for his attention at the same time. Shiro can’t get a hold of any of them and only watches them trickle by.

It’s unclear to him how much time has passed. Shiro accepts to live in that daze he can’t put off tonight. He's tempted to message Veronica a few angry emojis until he can sleep. In the end it's her fault.

Suddenly  Keith starts shifting, a small sleep-heavy groan escaping him. Shiro tenses up.

“Can’t sleep?” Keith mutters next to him, voice slurring the words. He’s not completely awake.

“Sorry,” Shiro says out of reflex, and bites his lip.

Keith opens one lazy eye, the soft glow of purple only visible for another second before he rubs them and rolls to his side. Shiro  reluctantly  rolls to face him too.

“Don’t be,” Keith says. He blinks more,  slowly, like one of the cat-humans Shiro once saw helping on rescue missions on Earth.  Even though the dark greens and bright yellows of their eyes were nothing like Shiro’s ever seen before, he finds Keith’s eyes are far more intriguing.

Shiro can stop himself before he rolls his eyes at his own thoughts.

“Sorry,” he restates and watches as a mouth with a few sharp canines comes into view. Keith yawns a second time and makes Shiro yawn in return. They both laugh, and it’s light, airy. Also tempting.

“New beds make me a light sleeper,” Keith explains. Shiro nods  seriously.

“You should have gotten this bed for you alone,” Shiro mutters, “I’m—“

“Shiro,” Keith interrupts him  softly  and places a hand against his biceps. For some reason, Shiro looks down at it and feels his mind stopping every thought altogether. He can’t seem to break his gaze away either. “Shiro, believe me, if I were on a mission with the Blades, there’d be ten sweaty guys sleeping on this bed together. And you know some are bigger than us two together.”

It’s a small exaggeration but it makes Shiro lose his tension and smile. Keith  slowly  retreats his hand and rubs his own arm which breaks the spell for him. He blinks back at Keith.

“Don’t you get crushed when you’re all sharing the same bed?” Shiro’s question draws a sleepy, in his eyes devastating, chuckle from Keith. The black of his hair hides his face when he nuzzles his nose against his own pillow. “ Maybe,” he mutters against the smooth cloth. “  Maybe  I like getting crushed,” he adds, voice low.

There are only so many breaths Shiro can hitch before it gets embarrassing, but the information came so out of the blue that he didn’t know what to do with it.  His mind is conjuring thoughts he’d rather not have while he  truly  doubts there was any real meaning behind Keith’s words.

There’s a shift in the mattress that’s  barely  there, but  suddenly, Keith is closer.

“What about you?”

Shiro swallows. “What about me?”

In the safe darkness, Keith chuckles, not taking it  seriously. The follow-up clarification gives Shiro half a heart attack.

“Do you like getting crushed?”

“I, uh…” Shiro knows he’s not supposed to take this question by heart. Keith's grin indicates as much, and does little to put Shiro at ease. Not with it's tone and not with the way Keith brushes his own hair out of the way and bites his lip.

He’s teasing, Shiro’s brain  helplessly  provides. He’s teasing you.

“What?” Keith asks when Shiro still doesn’t answer.

The room starts feeling small, and the few inches between him and Keith almost non-existent.

“I am, uhm. I’m not against it?”

Keith’s initial snort  is followed by  a giggle. With a turn on his back, Shiro has room to breath again. Keith stares up at the ceiling now, still, before he holds his stomach and starts laughing again. “So serious,” he comments.

Shiro’s both sad and relieved Keith’s face isn’t looking at him now. He doesn’t turn his back,  just  watches Keith look up at him in silence.

“I’m  really  happy I can visit you like this,” Keith says after a while of them both lying there.

It calms Shiro’s heart for all the right reasons. Keith is his best friend. He’s so important to Shiro. “I’m happy, too.”

Keith has rolled back to his side and faces Shiro again. His gaze bores into Shiro’s wide eyes.

“It’s also good for Acxa, you know.”

It draws an instant frown from Shiro. “Right.”

Keith smiles again. “I never was the person who would meddle with other people’s lives.”

“I know that.”

“But she could use some help.”

Now Shiro’s speechless. But he catches himself. “Oh Keith. No.”

Keith barks a laugh. It echoes from the walls of Shiro’s room. “Why?” his grin is vivid, too awake to make sense now.

“Trying to set up your friends…” he thinks about him and Veronica, chasing one chaos after the other. “ I think  it’s bad.”

Shiro tries to sound as truthful as possible. He does think it’s bad. But Keith doesn’t have to know that his revengeful spirit still engages in it,  just  to annoy Veronica back, a little. Also, because he thinks she deserves it. In the good, and bad way.

“I think  they like each other,” Keith says, his voice cutting the edge to sounding sane.

Shiro raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “Sure,” he says, only to mess with Keith a little.

Now, Keith’s getting physical. He pushes against Shiro’s shoulder. “Why are you not convinced?” he asks, but it’s all in good humor.

“It’s not exactly easy to read what Acxa’s thinking,” Shiro argues, to continue the charade. He’s not about to spill Veronica’s crush  just  like that. Keith could be wrong, after all.

Keith tilts his head, blinks. “It’s not easy to know with you either,” he returns.

Surprised, Shiro’s eyebrows pipe up. “It’s not?”

For a second, Keith looks like he regrets saying so. He drops his head, clears his throat. “Not always.” Then he brushes a black strand out of his face. “No.”

“Oh.”

It’s a clear message from Keith, but Shiro doesn’t know what answer to give to that. He didn’t know he’s being unreadable. If he were honest, Shiro thought that with Keith of all people he had been as open as vulnerable as he could.

“Keith,” he says, unprepared for the hopeful way Keith looks up to him. “I know there are some things… that we haven’t exactly talked about.”

He refers to the fight. It’s been ...what? Months? Over a year already? He almost expects Keith to  directly  refuse breaching that topic. But he keeps looking at Shiro, cheeks growing red.

“Oh,” Shiro says again, this time it’s  barely  a breath. With a stuttering heart, he searches in Keith’s eyes for something to hint that he shares the same thought as Shiro. The little distance left between them adds to feeling self-conscious. This way, he has Keith’s distinct scent right up his nose, and feels warmth radiate from him. He’s got some crazy body heat.

Unlike his earlier cocky self, Keith has grown quiet too, waiting, watching, measuring Shiro . His pupils turn big, dark overlaying the purple.

Shiro  faintly  remembers that he needs to keep breathing.

“You’re right,” Keith says, and Shiro’s heart skips a beat. Keith takes a deep breath, but doesn’t come far enough to continue.

A soft knock at the door startles them both.

Shiro jolts up from the bed and to the door, and even though his reaction was quick, he hesitates before opening.

“Yeah?” he inquires.

“You’re awake?” comes a surprised voice.

Shiro glances back at Keith, who lies on the same spot as before, hair in a soft tousle, confused expression on his face. “Veronica?” he guesses, asks , voice  barely  a whisper.

Shiro gives a shrug and opens the door.

It’s indeed Veronica’s panicked face he’s looking at.  In the darkness, Shiro can make out the vague shape of a long pair of pjs and a wide shirt with “Galaxy Garrison” printed on in neon orange. The low light reflects on the fine hair standing up in every direction from her head.

Shiro squints. “Is everything—”

“She’s sleeping _naked_.” Veronica gets straight to the point. Now Shiro notices that her eyes are wide and strained. A vein that usually isn't visible pops out on her forehead.

“What—”

Again, Veronica is direct. “Acxa. She’s buttnaked." A heavy sigh. "In my bed.”

Shiro takes a step outside and leans the door closed behind him. “You’re a big girl,” he says with crossed arms. As crazy as it is for Veronica to turn up in the middle of the night, Shiro is somewhat empathic. And a little amused. “Go back in there.”

“No.” Veronica’s voice is firm, and she almost growls. “I've been laying awake in my bed for three hours. I won't go back in there—" She's stubborn, but then squints at at the closed door behind Shiro. "Unless—”

It takes a while for Shiro to understand.

“No!” he exclaims, voice too loud. He shakes his head, cheeks burning red. “I told you this multiple times. He—”

“...likes you like a brother.” Veronica finishes for Shiro and earns herself a grim look. “You told me a _bazillion_ times. And I told you I’d never look at Lance the way Keith looks at you." Shiro doesn't seem convinced. "I swear, I’d  be concerned  if I did.”

Shiro's defensiveness crumbles, only a little. Veronica's right in some ways. It almost feels like this particular reason ingrained his own thinking too deep to let go of it. Especially not when Keith is so close.

“Go to bed, Veronica.” Shiro sighs. He's tired.

“Shiro." Her voice is almost condescending. “I’m not going to beg but if you don’t let me sleep in your bed for tonight, it’s gonna be a close one. And I promise, you don’t wanna see this girl cry.” She points with a thumb at herself.

There's a good possibility that Veronica would go back if he told her to for a third time. But she's been supportive of all his panicked behavior in the past. It can't hurt to support her in the same way.

Even if it's three in the morning.

“Any explanation why she sleeps naked in the first place?” he asks after taking a steady breath.

At least it pulls a grin from Veronica's tired face. “Not that I could have listened to any explanation. I was too busy trying to find something else to stare at while she started undressing right in front of me.”

"Wow," Shiro laughs.

Veronica looks disgruntled. "Yep."

In the dim corridor, the two of them grin at each other. Veronica’s following snort sounds harsh in the emptiness of the corridor at night.

“I still feel like you should go back.”

“I won’t get any sleep,” Veronica punctuates her every word. Then she yawns. “But if I stay here I can be your patron. A good wall between you and your bro.”

Shiro grimaces. “That sounds horrible.”

“It will get us both sleep, Mr.” Veronica takes a few steps towards the door, hand on the grip. “You don’t need those eye circles to get deeper, Sir.”

"Veronica—"

"Don't think I forgot that I went to that 2-for-1 karaoke evening with you the other day. You owe me one."

With that, she turns the knob and steps in. Shiro hurries to follow her,  nervously  eyeing Keith’s small lump under the blankets.

“Hey. He won’t even know I’m here.” Veronica crosses her fingers at Shiro while her eyes focus on Keith. For a moment, they both listen to the sound of his light snoring. It’s a tender moment for Shiro, and when Veronica looks back at him, he feels like he’s caught in the act.

“Sorry for cockblocking you,” Veronica whispers as she  quietly  moves toward the bed. “Sir.”

Shiro sighs, but a smile forms on his lips. Keith looks so peaceful, and somehow, Veronica's right. Shiro needs to sleep. And he'll get it better this way. He makes a mental note to not meddle with Veronica and Acxa's relationship the next time.

“Sorry you did that to yourself,” he says and follows, not without a small smile when he sees Veronica’s pout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, Blades just love being nakey

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to recommend this fic to others, feel free to link or retweet this [Tweet](https://twitter.com/cruelisb/status/1184078341747417088?s=21)!
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